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mediaevalmuse 's review for:
Saga of the Swamp Thing
by Alan Moore
Hoooooooolyyyyyyyyyyy craaaaaaaaap. This was a wild read that gave me tingles from head to toe. Alan Moore revamps Swamp Thing to make it more delightfully horrific - it’s less focused on supernatural stories in themselves and more interested in using the supernatural to tell a story (if that makes any sense). I love the darker, grittier tone of Moore’s writing and the way Swamp Thing continues to be the hero we met in Len Wein’s book. If you’re a fan of monster stories, I would highly recommend giving this book a go.
Things I Liked
1. Revision of Origins: The Len Wein Swamp Thing run was fine - nothing wrong with it nor its origin story. It was fairly typical in that the protagonist became Swamp Thing after a chemical explosion. Alan Moore retains that story, but adds a whole new dimension to it that left me incredulous after the first read-through. With this new addition, Swamp Thing becomes more psychological than before, and I was constantly wondering how our protagonist would sort out the questions of identity and humanity throughout the run.
2. Art: The look of Swamp Thing is really enhanced in this book. There are more straggling vines, plant tendrils, and an overall look of horrifying creepiness that’s only augmented by more and more details. Swamp Thing has a basic humanoid shape, but you can really tell he’s made of plants here, rather than some kind of plant-human hybrid. As a result, the comic felt more firmly situated in the horror genre.
3. Layout: The issues in this collection don’t follow a strict format. The layout of the page, in particular, never seems to adhere to your typical grid, but instead plays with panels in interesting ways. Panels are made up of different shapes that overlap one another, and every page seems to be different. Despite this ever-changing layout design, I never had trouble finding which panel to read next, so not only was the reading experience exciting and engaging by virtue of always changing, but it was also easy to follow.
4. Abby Cable: Even though she was a damsel in distress a couple times, I really liked that Abby got to play an expanded role in the stories, and she was portrayed less of a dumb blonde type and more active. Her writing wasn’t perfect, but I did like that she was involved (as opposed to her role in Dark Genesis).
Things I Didn’t Like
1. Narrative Fluidity: I will admit, I was kind of confused when I read the storyline about the Monkey King and the demon. I had to go back a few times and try to piece together parts of the story I missed.
Recommendations: I would recommend this book if you’re interested in Alan Moore's writing, horror (as a genre of literature, comic, and art), theories of plant communication, monsters vs humans, and questions of identity.
Things I Liked
1. Revision of Origins: The Len Wein Swamp Thing run was fine - nothing wrong with it nor its origin story. It was fairly typical in that the protagonist became Swamp Thing after a chemical explosion. Alan Moore retains that story, but adds a whole new dimension to it that left me incredulous after the first read-through. With this new addition, Swamp Thing becomes more psychological than before, and I was constantly wondering how our protagonist would sort out the questions of identity and humanity throughout the run.
2. Art: The look of Swamp Thing is really enhanced in this book. There are more straggling vines, plant tendrils, and an overall look of horrifying creepiness that’s only augmented by more and more details. Swamp Thing has a basic humanoid shape, but you can really tell he’s made of plants here, rather than some kind of plant-human hybrid. As a result, the comic felt more firmly situated in the horror genre.
3. Layout: The issues in this collection don’t follow a strict format. The layout of the page, in particular, never seems to adhere to your typical grid, but instead plays with panels in interesting ways. Panels are made up of different shapes that overlap one another, and every page seems to be different. Despite this ever-changing layout design, I never had trouble finding which panel to read next, so not only was the reading experience exciting and engaging by virtue of always changing, but it was also easy to follow.
4. Abby Cable: Even though she was a damsel in distress a couple times, I really liked that Abby got to play an expanded role in the stories, and she was portrayed less of a dumb blonde type and more active. Her writing wasn’t perfect, but I did like that she was involved (as opposed to her role in Dark Genesis).
Things I Didn’t Like
1. Narrative Fluidity: I will admit, I was kind of confused when I read the storyline about the Monkey King and the demon. I had to go back a few times and try to piece together parts of the story I missed.
Recommendations: I would recommend this book if you’re interested in Alan Moore's writing, horror (as a genre of literature, comic, and art), theories of plant communication, monsters vs humans, and questions of identity.